Day 684 : Cheeses for a Christmas Dinner

This year I had Christmas dinner at a good friend's and guess what I brought?

You guessed it!
Cheese!

I decided to keep things simple and go with French classics -- one goat's milk, one semi-firm rustic snacking style cheese and one blue. The blue was definitely key since I knew my host adores blue cheese.

So what did I choose?

For the first cheese I went for a Chevre D'Or, a classic soft ripened Loire Valley aged goat's milk cheese. Chalky with a bright ivory interior and milky, grassy, citrusy notes. Great with a glass of bubbly to celebrate the holidays!

For the second cheese I went with Saint-Nectaire, a pressed, uncooked cow's milk cheese from the Auvergne region that has been produced since the 17th century. Dense somewhat springy interior paste with a light tinge of acidity and full of buttery, light hazelnut-y, mushroomy, rustic notes. Did you know this was the first "farmer" style cheese to receive AOC status in France?

For the blue, I went with one of France's oldest blues, dating back to Roman times, not Roquefort, but my favorite blue -- Fourme D'Ambert hailing from the Auvergne region. This AOC pasteurized cow's milk blue is spicy and tangy yet round and buttery with a nice semi-firm texture. Great with homemade cranberry bread as we enjoyed it yesterday.

A nice simple and straight forward cheese selection designed to be approachable yet interesting followed by an excellent meal cooked by my friend, it was a wonderful way to spend Christmas.